> It is just crazy how easy it is to set this stuff up nowadays. I run both Navidrome and Jellyfin in docker containers….
Wow, I’ll get grandma to do it! Ha ha, just kidding, but I’ll try it myself. Ha ha, just kidding.
Honestly, I just want to scream “self-hosting isn’t going to happen, stop trying to make it happen.” I absolutely welcome the hobbyists doing this fun stuff in their free time, but the idea that they will ever win over ordinary users is total fantasy. And it’s accompanied by reality-denying stuff like how “you don’t need” feature X or Y. Sure, I long to go back to organising my own mp3 files like it’s 2002. And because you’re angry about corporate power, Spotify or whoever definitely provide no features of value to anyone! This is all pure mood affiliation.
Sorry. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad your setup works for you. But I think you are not using the word “easy” in the same way as most people.
Those aren't competitors of Spotify/Netflix; they're alternatives for people who are willing to tolerate small inconveniences to have full control over their library.
Of course it's not as easy as signing up for Spotify/Netflix, but setting them up is easier than ever (even easier for tech people).
Yup, the key word for me is control. And over time, considering the continual loss of control, more people will adopt self hosting, and things will get better and easier. For now, i only recommend it to hobbyists or people with free time and money. It does take quite a while to get it all running smoothly.
Cheaper too.
Disagree. With a little bit of technical knowledge which I’m assuming most people browsing hacker news have, these services are easy to spin up and use.
If you can read a README you can set up Navidrome and point it to your local library in 5 minutes.
Locally. It's a bit harder if you want remote access... I ended up using a reverse proxy and let's encrypt certs... It wasn't to bad but it wasn't easy. I have never looked into Tailscale or similar solutions though, maybe those are just click and go.
Tailscale, ZeroTier, Tinc, Hamachi, and the like are all very, stupidly easy mesh VPN solutions that anyone can use. If you feel like owning a domain, Cloudflare Tunnel makes it similarly easy to expose your service to the wider Internet on a home connection and not have to worry about proxies and certs. The barrier to self hosting has never been lower, and it keeps falling. Heck, Cockpit's Podman management means you almost never need to look at a terminal, and aren't locked in to a bespoke platform that's rainbows and glitter until it stops getting maintained or gets enshittified. Get a little SBC with as much RAM as you can find and you'll be amazed at the capability:effort ratio.